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Harper officially apologizes for native residential schools

By bruce campion-smithOttawa Bureau Chief

Wed., June 11, 2008

OTTAWA–The federal government was wrong to tear thousands of aboriginal children from their parents and communities and force them into residential schools where they were subjected to maltreatment and abuse, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said today.

In a hushed and emotional House of Commons, Harper delivered a solemn apology for the federal government’s program of residential schools – and its sad legacy of abuse, assimilation and lasting pain.

“Mr. Speaker, I stand before you today to offer an apology to former students of Indian Residential schools,” Harper said. “The treatment of children in Indian residential schools is a sad chapter in our history.

“The government of Canada now recognizes that it was wrong to forcibly remove children from their homes and we apologize for having done this,” Harper said.

“We now recognize that it was wrong to separate children from rich and vibrant cultures and traditions, that it created a void in many lives and communities and we apologize for having done this,” he said.

Under the federal program, tens of thousands of aboriginal children were torn from their families and forced into mostly church-run schools, where their own culture was repressed and many were subjected to physical and sexual abuse.

It was a historic day and for the thousands of aboriginals who had endured the experience of residential schools, a day that was long in the making.

Harper’s address bore testament to their suffering, as he noted that many children were inadequately fed, clothed and housed and deprived of the “care and nurturing” of their parents and communities.

But he also noted that many had a far worse experience in the residential schools and now tell how they suffered physical and sexual abuse.

He said that legacy has contributed to social problems that exist in many communities today.

“It has taken extraordinary courage for the thousands of survivors that have come forward to speak publicly about the abuse they suffered,” Harper said.

He said the residential schools had two objectives: to remove and isolate from the influence of their families and traditions and to assimilate them into a dominant culture.

“These objectives were based on the assumption aboriginal cultures and spiritual beliefs were inferior and unequal,” Harper said.

“Indeed, some sought, as it was infamously said, ‘to kill the Indian in the child’,” the prime minister said.

“Today, we recognize that this policy of assimilation was wrong, has caused great harm and has no place in our country,” he said.

“There is no place in Canada for the attitudes that inspired the Indian residential schools system to ever again prevail,” Harper said.

Hundreds of aboriginals were on hand, both inside the Parliament buildings, as well as listening to the proceedings outside as Harper apologized on behalf of the government and the nation.

“We now recognize that, far too often, these institutions gave rise to abuse or neglect and were inadequately controlled, and we apologize for failing to protect you,” Harper said.

About 150,000 students attended 130 church-run schools across Canada for much of the last century. Harper noted that many former students have died and are unable to hear the government’s apology.

The business of Parliament was suspended for the afternoon. Gone was the political parrying of afternoon question period, replaced by a country’s atonement for a cultural disaster that was decades in the making. In a rare non-partisan nod, Harper also paid tribute to NDP Leader Jack Layton for his prodding of the government to offer the apology.

Representatives of native groups were present on the floor of the House of Commons – a rare honour – to hear the apology firsthand. They included Phil Fontaine, from the Assembly of First Nations; Mary Simon, president of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatam; Beverly Jacobs, of the Native Women’s Association of Canada; and Mike Cachagee, of the National Residential Schools Survivors.

Also present were survivors of the schools themselves, including 104-year-old Marguerite Wabano, the oldest survivor.

Many gathered outside Centre Block, where the proceedings were shown on a large screen.

The Prime Minister met first with the special guests in his Parliament Hill office. Together they walked down to the Commons where the apology was delivered.

When Harper was done his remarks, which were scheduled to take about 10 minutes, opposition leaders offered their own parties’ apologies for this dark chapter of Canadian history.

Following the Commons’ speeches, Harper, Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl and guests proceeded to a Parliament Hill where they were to be joined by Governor General Michaëlle Jean.

They took part in a “smudging ceremony,” a traditional ritual meant to cleanse a person and place of negative energies.

Harper and Strahl offered tobacco and tea to elders. The Prime Minister was to then present 11 of the special guests with a framed statement of apology.

The day began at sunrise as natives offered morning prayers for those who didn’t live to hear it.

Elder Fred Kelly of the Onigaming First Nation near Kenora was among about 100 natives who gathered on an island in the Ottawa River below Parliament Hill.

They burned tobacco to honour the spirits of those who have died, and offered prayers to help those haunted by cultural loss, physical abuse and sexual assaults.

Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion said that it’s time Canadians confronted one of the “darkest chapters” in the country’s history.

“Government policy destroyed the fabric of family in First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities,” Dion said.

“Parents and grandparents were given no choice. Their children were stolen from them. And we are only now beginning to understand the terrible price of these policies,” he said.

“For too long, Canadian governments chose denial over truth. And when confronted with the weight of truth, chose silence,” he said.

And he noted that the Liberals were in government for more than 70 years of the last century, adding, “I acknowledge our role and our shared responsibility in this tragedy. I am deeply sorry. I apologize.”

NDP Leader Jack Layton added his party’s voice in apologizing for the past but said that today’s historic steps were just the “crucial first step.”

“This apology must not be the end. It must be the beginning,” Layton said.

“Reconciliation also means that as a Parliament - as a country - we must take action to address the terrible inequality faced by First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities,” Layton said

“Even as we speak here today, thousands of Aboriginal children are without schools, clean water, adequate food, their own bed, good health care, safety, comfort, land and rights,” he said.

“Let’s reverse the horrific and shameful statistics afflicting the Aboriginal population - high rates of poverty, suicide, poor or no education, overcrowded and crumbling housing, unsafe drinking water,” the NDP leader said.

“Let us all - First Nations, Métis and Inuit, Canadians who have been here for generations and new Canadians - build a fair, equal and respectful future together,” he said.

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